Photographer's Note

Part of the Dodecanese island chain, located about 41 km north-northwest of Rhodes, Simi is an island on the Aegean Sea. Its nearest land neighbors are the Datça peninsula of Muğla Province in Turkey.

The shipbuilding and sponge industries were substantial on the island and, while at their peak near the end of the 19th century, the population reached 22,500. Symi's main industry is now tourism and the population has declined to 2,500.

It is so close to the Turkish coast (only 7km) that, while we were at the harbor, most of the yachts we saw were carrying visitors from neighboring Turkey. On the other side of the coin, the residents of some Greek islands in the Aegean prefer to make their weekly shopping in the nearby towns of the Turkish mainland.

The traditional political tension between these countries seems to have faded somewhat in the past decade. A reason for the rapprochement in the early 2000s was the broadcasting of some Turkish TV series in Greece, especially the Foreign Groom comedy, which featured the experiences of a Greek groom who married a Turkish girl. Some episodes were filmed in Simi, and the island is said to have experienced a huge mainly Greek- tourist influx during the shooting. :-)

Gialos Harbor has neo-classical buildings built after the 1880 earthquake. They constitute an aesthetic uniform style with triangular front, colourful shades, and lovely balconies.

a guy who calls himself Suppiluliuma merits some attention ! I followed the traces of the Hatti empire in Turkey by bicycle in 2010. But this picture is attractive because of its photographic quality. The architectural style of the houses is quite unique and classical.